New Delhi:
Scientists at Australian National University have uncloaked the mystery of how of first animals marked their presence on Earth.
Around 650 million years ago when Earth turned into a giant snowball, it gave birth to one of the most profound ecological revolutions in Earth's history resulting in evolution of animals began with the rise of algae.
The research which was published in the journal Nature, analysed ancient sedimentary rocks from central Australia.
Lead researcher and associate professor Jochen Brock said, "We crushed these rocks to powder and extracted molecules of ancient organisms from them".
"These molecules tell us that it really became interesting 650 million years ago. It was a revolution of ecosystems, it was the rise of algae", Brocks added.
"The Earth was frozen over for 50 million years. Huge glaciers ground entire mountain ranges to powder that released nutrients, and when the snow melted during an extreme global heating event rivers washed torrents of nutrients into the ocean", he explained.
These huge amount of nutrients in the oceans amalgamated with hospitable global tempeatures developed perfect scenario for rapid growth of algae.
"These large and nutritious organisms at the base of the food web provided the burst of energy required for the evolution of complex ecosystems, where increasingly large and complex animals, including humans, could thrive on Earth", Brocks said.
Co-lead researcher Amber Jarrett discovered ancient sedimentary rocks from central Australia that related directly to the period just after the melting of Snowball Earth.
